Arctic Waters. No problem.

In an extraordinary moment of spontaneity we pulled together a few friends and under the midnight sun drove ourselves a few hours north to the magical land of Tombstone Territorial Park; coincidentally surrounding ourselves by the 'Ogilvie' Mountain range.
We drove through some extremely mystical fog, having not the faintest of idea of what lay beyond. Dodging pot hole after pot hole down the infamous Dempster Highway, the only highway leading to the northern most parts of the Yukon. Oh ya, did I mention the highway is barely 2 lanes and made out of dirt.

The mosquitos were REALLY bad.

Don's reaction to my 'bug jacket'.

Now for the good stuff, come morning (?) we pull ourselves together and scan the horizon for the perfect mountain to tackle, we ponder as there are dozens to choose from. However the one straight south of our campsite and across the Klondike River seemed most appealing to all.

Off we go! Trail? Who said anything about following a trail?

Neil and Dana; Moments of Deliberation.

Scaling the river bank, searching for the perfect place to cross, with sub-zero temperatures and an extreme current we had to choose our course... wisely?! So, as wise as we are, off come the shoes and onwards. You know those ice coolers at the LCBO? Have you ever held your hand in there for ...fun? Well times that by 5zillion and you'll understand the temperatures our little toes were facing.

'Here goes nothing. Is that snow?? SNOW??? What day is it again? June___?'


Now, for the longest portion of the river...

Jan and Lauren. Bare feet n' all!

After losing all feeling in our feet we made it to the base of 'our mountain'. Now for the terrain, imagine climbing straight up hill on a trampoline, or even better, a water bed.

"Who had the Peanut Butter, Jam, Cheese, Hot Sauce and Nutella?" Yummy! Condiment Sandwiches. I know you're all salvating right now!

Beautiful Scenery

'Ok we're just about high enough'. See Don???

From left: Lilly and Buks.
Showing off their incredible mountain climbing skills, running circles around us.

Don and the Mountains

Dr. Seuss?

And, for the last lag of the journey home look what incredible wonder decided to show it's face.
Guess what time it is? Free love to the person with the closest guess!


Now remember how we crossed the river...well believe it or not we had to cross back. However now we felt invincible to the elements for having conquered not only the river but the mountain too, we figured we'd head straight for the campsite, and not back towards the lengthy yet shallow part of the river. Now we don't have this portion of the hike documented as we found ourselves at the edge of the narrows with campsites in clear site on the opposite side. The only problem was the glacial water rushing past us in between. What to do? No problem, linking arms, we shuffled ourselves through waist deep arctic waters all the while Buks sat calmly cradled in Don's arms. What a site we must've been stumbling up onto the campsites of those RV-ing types.
Home sweet home. Weiners and beans for all!

Stay Tuned!
ps. we have a flat tire.